For a balance of performance and portability with a focus on gaming and engineering tasks, the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is a strong contender. It offers a more powerful processor and graphics card, which translates to better performance in intensive applications, including gaming and engineering software. The higher refresh rate also means smoother visuals in fast-paced games. However, it's bulkier and heavier, making it less ideal for frequent travelers.
On the other hand, if you prioritize a more compact and lightweight design with a touchscreen and superior display quality, the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is the way to go. Its Mini LED display provides excellent color accuracy and brightness, which is great for general use and creative work. While it has a less powerful GPU, it's still capable of handling light gaming and creative tasks. The Slim Pro 9i also boasts longer battery life, making it more suitable for users who are often on the move.
Consider the Legion 5 16 for its raw power and gaming capabilities, but if you value a premium, portable experience with a top-notch display, the Slim Pro 9i is the better choice. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024)
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i
Best in class overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
8.5/10
7.6/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.9/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is good.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Screen Quality
8.7/10
9.6/10
16.0in
SIZE
14.5in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
500.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
618.0 nits
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 16 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.5 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has 3.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has 6 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Fair
Good
16.0in
SIZE
14.5in
5.6 lbs
WEIGHT
3.7 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.0/10
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Engineering and Design
9.0/10
8.9/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.9/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be excellent for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is very good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
8.2/10
8.5/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
8.0/10
8.3/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Cost
$1,600
$1,500
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has a price of $1,600 and the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i costs $1,500.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is an impressive laptop with a brilliant Mini-LED display, a powerful 100-watt version of Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics, and excellent connectivity. Having run the Cinebench benchmark again, we were impressed with the CPU performance. That makes the Slim Pro 9i is an easy recommendation, especially for those who care about GPU and CPU performance. It’s also a fantastic choice if you frequently view HDR movies and games on your laptop."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) or the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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